The present invention relates to sputter targets made of carbides and/or nitrides and/or borides of refractory metals and a process for producing sputter targets.
Sputtering, the technique of coating diverse metallic and non-metallic shaped parts by evaporating targets (sputter targets) in cathodic evaporating units has gained rapidly in importance in recent years and is continuing to grow. In the past, sputter targets of carbides and/or nitrides and/or borides of the refractory metals have been produced by pressing and sintering, or by hot pressing powdered carbides, nitrides, borides or mixtures thereof. The required sintering temperatures, or hot pressing temperatures, of such processes are very high, generally in the order of about 2000.degree. C. The shaped parts of these earlier processes generally have poor mechanical strength, are generally difficult to machine and have a tendency of forming cracks. As a result, they have low thermal shock resistance. Materials with these properties are of very limited use as sputter targets. Thus, targets of this type have found little commercial application.